Morning Links: Russia’s First-Ever Calder Retrospective Edition

An artist group called Atopie are likely responsible for the brick walls that have been found blocking entrances to a few museums in Basel, Switzerland. [Artforum]

USC Roski dean denies complaints made by all seven MFA students who recently dropped out. Instead of recording their withdrawal, the school has granted all seven students a two-year leave of absence. [Hyperallergic]

London’s National Gallery has indicated that Ireland has a “moral, if not legal” right to a collection of Impressionist paintings that “have been a cause célèbre of Irish nationalism since the 1920s.” [The Guardian]

Over 40 major international artists, including Danh Vo, Damián Ortega, and Rirkrit Tiravanija, and Mark Bradford, have expressed solidarity with artists Walid Raad and Ashok Sukumaran, who were recently banned from entering the UAE. [The Art Newspaper]

The first Alexander Calder retrospective will open in Russia next month at the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow, and will run from June 8 through August 30. The show will include 52 works from the Calder Foundation in New York, and a few pieces from private Russian collections. [The Art Newspaper]